Heard good things about Entourage lunches. Therefore gave it a try. You need to go up a flight of staircase to reach the entrance. Quite secluded.
Environment:
Dim lights + spotlight + centerpiece
Low ceiling, very dim lighting, cheap but thoughtful decorations (although the table at the corner was a bit shabby). If the place were full it would've been a bit noisy.
Service:The waiters were polite and attentive. However, the waiter who took our orders was quite imposing - strongly recommended us to order the salt-crusted sea bream even though H had explicitly stated that she wanted to try cod. He disregarded our preferences and went on to reiterate thrice, that the salt crusted bream was a specialty. We succumbed in the end.
Food:The menu:
Bread basket - baguetteThe bread basket was petite and there was only baguette, and more baguette to choose from. The bread was warm. The olive oil was fragrant but I thought the balsamic was a bit too sour. We asked for a refill, only because R was very hungry and realized that we wouldn't be ordering a lot that night.
French beans in pesto and pistachio dressing I thought this would be an interesting dish but it turned out to rather disappointing. Pesto ought to have been thick and delicious and ought to have coated the beans well. I don't think it was salted properly because the basil flavour didn't quite come through, and the mixture was to grainy and coarse for my liking. But then again pesto with beans seems a little strange (hindsight). The bashed up pistachios offered some crunch, but added little to the dish in terms of taste. The beans were, very slender, and were cold. Not impressive.
Seared tuna with regular nicoise salad
差 too salty, seared tuna not good
Again, I realized I had made a mistake by ordering seared tuna only when it came. The color didn't look right. Tuna should not be seared. At most it should be lightly crusted on the outside with a special crunchy mix and only very, very lightly seared. The bulk of the meat should remain reddish. Well-done tuna is too lean and rough. The salad was too sour. Anchovies were too salty. Overall, not a very pleasant or pleasing salad. Should have cut the acidity with some sweet.
Cream of cauliflower soupThe waiter assured us that the soup wouldn't be too creamy. His reassurance was well-placed. I only ate a mouthful. Cauliflower doesn't taste like anything particularly distinct does it..? Would've preferred mushroom or pumpkin soup.
Wild mushroom risotto with parmesan chip
OK wild mushroom risotto
The risotto itself and the blending of mushroom with the rice grains was up to scratch. I liked the slurpy texture of the risotto (albeit being a bit too thick), and thoroughly enjoyed the thinly-sliced wild mushrooms. belongs to the chanterelle family i believe. However, despite the acceptable texture, the risotto was over-seasoned. Waaay too salty, especially when an extremely salty parmesan chip is set on the side to accompany to the risotto. It was salty to the extent I couldn't quite palate it. Pity.
I felt quite full already after eating a few spoonfuls.
Salt-crusted sea bream
正cute!
正 seabream yum!
Best deal of the day. The mummified sea bream is interesting and see they even bothered to carve out little pockets of salt to imitate the scaly surface. The meat was soft and flavourful. You could really taste the fresh fish flavour because it wasn't seasoned with anything else but salt, on the surface, which works pretty well! There was a olive chutney topping served on the side - finely diced tomato, red onion, olive, parsley, olive oil. The topping was delicious and worked well with the fish, offering a bit of savoury meatiness to complement the mild fish flavour. The only disappointment was that they didn't let us carve out the flesh for ourselves, instead, the fish was deboned when served. I would've preferred working at the carcass myself. But I guess the French won't have it done this quintessentially oriental way. Aite. Should explicitly make the request next time (if there is one).
Chicken breast with portobello mushroom
差 unappetizing
Disappointing
to say the least. An insult to the reputation that entourage has earned - spoiled meat, undercooked, bland flavour, unappetizing appearance. The only enjoyable item on the plate was the large portobello mushroom garnishing the chicken. And I thought the menu read 'stuffed' chicken.
Thin apple tart with vanilla ice cream
正 :)
Dessert, thankfully, was quite pleasing. 'Thin' apple tart is true to its name. The apples were thinly sliced and the filo pastry was also very, very thin. It was, however, dry and crisp, not soggy at all, kind of like mille-feuille, though less brittle. I liked this dessert a lot. The tart itself was not sweet and the apples were slightly tart but with the huge dollop of vanilla ice cream on top, the sweetness nicely cut the acidity. Quite delightful.
Conclusion:There are some strengths, but these strengths were outweighed by its weaknesses.
Will not recommend this place for dinner. Lunch might be OK. Not sure how long it's going to remain in business though.
Supplementary Information:
There were only 4 groups of diners on a Sunday evening. Not too optimistic about Entourage staying in business for much longer. Hope it improves though. Have heard positive comments for lunch.
Recommended Dish(es):
salt crusted sea bream
Date of Visit: Mar 04, 2012
Spending per head: Approximately HKD350(Dinner)
Other Ratings:Taste
2 |
Environment
3 |
Service
3 |
Hygiene
3 |
Value for Money
2Recommend
0
%20and%20was%20already%20impressed%20by%20the%20design%20of%20this%20building%20-%20being%20turned%20around%20from%20an%20old%20block%20into%20a%20neo-modern%20design.%20%20F...&screenshot=http%3A%2F%2Fstatic4.orstatic.com%2FUserPhoto%2Fphoto%2F2%2F1ZM%2F00E5EU7BC164F2FDE2A76As.jpg "Share with Messenger")
